Live music and touring have been on lockdown and fans as well as artists are going through withdrawals. We wanted to come up with something fun to help bridge that distance between fans and artists right now. What we came up with is something called The Lockdown Lowdown and it’s a Q&A session with fun questions for artists to answer. They’re not your typical interview questions, so it gives you a peek inside of the artists themselves. We’re big music nerds here at I’m Music Magazine and we love learning things like this about the artists that we love. We’re pretty sure that you’ll get a kick out of these, so we hope you’ll take the time to read them. In this installment, we sat down for a fun Q&A session with Norwegian Alt-Pop Duo, Ask Carol.
1. How have you been doing during the pandemic and how are you spending your time?
We were very lucky to be quarantined together, the whole band, and we were so fortunate to be at the place where we have our studio when the lockdown happened in March. It was very sad to see all our concerts, tours and travels get cancelled, but at least we had our studio to work in. At times it is hard to keep our spirits up with all the uncertainty and the impact on the music business etc., but we have tried to stay busy and make the most of it. We have been working on new material and other Ask Carol stuff every day since the lockdown. From music videos, to animation, design, new merch, websites, and of course new music.
2. Have you been working on new music?
Yes, we have been working on lots of new music, and released three singles last year. At the moment we are working our album, to be released later this year. We have also worked a lot on videos during our time in quarantine, and made our first ever real music video, and our first animation video. We love learning new things, so doing these new things is very exciting 🙂
3. 5 albums that changed your life
Ask: To say these albums changed my life would be an exaggeration, but these are the albums I’ve listened to the most, and that meant the most to me, growing up and later.
The Clash – London Calling
Micheal Jackson bootleg/pirate from China
The Band – The Last Waltz
The Best Air Guitar Album In The World…. Ever! -Listened to this a lot when I started playing
guitar back in 2004…
The Beastie Boys – Anthology
Carol: These are some albums that means a lot to me, but it’s more the musical events changed my life.
Here’s five from the top of my head that meant a lot, but of course there’s more too.
Nirvana – MTV Unplugged
Fugees – The Score
George Benson – Anthology
The Best Air Guitar Album In The World…. Ever! Vol. 1
Jimi Hendrix – The best of Jimi Hendrix
4. 5 artists that influenced you as a musician.
Ask: The Clash, Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, The Band
Carol: George Benson, Jimi Hendrix, Aretha Franklin, Pink Floyd, Nirvana
5. Your 5 favorite live albums
Ask: The Clash – From Here To Eternity
The Band – The Last Waltz
Allman Brothers Band – Fillmore East
Jimi Hendrix – Live At Monterey
Carol: Nirvana – MTV Unplugged
Deep Purple – Live In Japan
Jimi Hendrix – Band Of Gypsys 50th Anniversary
Eva Cassidy – Live At Blues Alley
AC/DC – Live (Collectors Edition1992)
6. Life on the road; 5 of the craziest/funniest/scariest tour stories
There’s a lot crazy stuff that has happened on the tours and travels that is not fit for mentioning here, but a few highlights:
Valentines day in Open Air Auditorium, Rizal Park, thought we were playing for 100 people, but there was 1500 people there.
Strange Fruit, Seoul. Our first concert as Ask Carol ever.
Opening for The Brian Jonestown Massacre. Awesome band, and still some of our coolest concerts.
EuroTV. TV appearance on a Filipino TV channel. Host invited us home for drinks before the show.
LA Times Book Festival. Ended up speaking on one of the stages, which was so much fun.
7. 5 favorite movies
Ask: Inception, Fight Club, School Of Rock, Lord Of The Rings
Carol: Shawshank Redemption, Into The Wild, The Green Mile, Walk The Line, Benjamin Button
8. Best and worst advice you ever heard.
In general we haven’t really received any life or career changing advice yet. Of course, there has been many tidbits of advice here and there that has pointed us in a slightly better direction, but nothing that was like «Wow, this is life changing!»…. But on thing that has turned out to be so very true, is not don’t listen to what other people say. Everyone is different, and it will only make a miss. Listen to yourself.
9. Strangest thing you ever autographed
It’s been so long since we’ve played for anyone, so the one time we did since march last year really sticks out. We have autographed a lot of weird stuff over the years, but because of the strange situation and being the only ting in so long time, signing a girls pants really stands out at the moment.
10. If music was over today and you had to go into professional wrestling, what would your wrestling name be?
None of us have watched any wrestling, we actually don’t have that here in Norway, but maybe something like Brutal Carol and Ask son of Thor (which is the literal translation of Ask’s real middle name).
Connect with Ask Carol:
